hungry palestinians loot aid trucks entering gaza through the rafah crossing, as israel opens another crossing for aid. israel's prime minister dismisses the latest calls for a "sustainable ceasefire" in gaza, insisting they will "fight to the end" to eliminate hamas. former conservative peer baroness mone admits she stands to benefit from £60 million of profit from personal protective equipment sold to the government during the pandemic. voting wraps up in serbia's snap elections, called after two mass shootings shook the ruling party's hold on power. and a site in the shetland islands becomes the uk's first spaceport for vertical rocket launches. hello i'm, tanya beckett.

in a sign of the growing hunger and desperation in gaza, crowds of people have looted aid trucks entering the besieged strip through the rafah crossing. for the first time since the war began, israel has also opened one of its crossings into gaza to aid. it's hoped the opening of the kerem shalom crossing will double the amount of food and medicine reaching gazans. until now, aid has only been able to reach the territory through the rafah crossing from egypt. israel has kept up its bombardment of gaza, killing dozens more people. gaza's hamas—run health ministry says 90 people were killed injust the jabalia area of gaza city. in a change of tone, the uk and germany havejoined calls for a "sustainable ceasefire". prime minister benjamin netanyahu insists israel will fight to the end, but the reuters news agency is quoting egyptian security sources as saying israel and hamas are both open to a ceasefire, but still disagree over details. our correspondent lucy

williamson has more. the target for israel in gaza is hamas. for palestinians, it's survival. the rafah crossing point exploded in desperation today, each aid truck a lifeline, each minute of the journey, a lifetime of waiting. the border town of rafah has swelled to four times its normal size as people flee the fighting elsewhere. empty stomachs filled with hope, empty bowls held out for food. the un estimates that almost half the households here are facing very severe hunger. translation: what is happening in gaza is of the utmost _ concern to france. too many civilians are being killed. but the israeli prime minister is so far standing firm. translation: we are guided

by the will of the fallen. we will fight until the end and we'll achieve all our objectives — eliminating hamas, releasing all our hostages and ensuring that gaza will not become again a centre for terror, incitement and attacks against the state of israel. israel has released footage of what it said is the biggest hamas tunnel found so far, two and a half miles long and just inside the main erez crossing point to israel. this, the army says, is a hamas video showing how the tunnels were built, a major construction project using industrial tools. and the man on the right of this video, it says, is the project manager of gaza's tunnel network, muhammed sinwar, brother of the hamas leader blamed by israel for the 7th october attacks. but pressure for a ceasefire is growing in israel too, as funerals are held for three

hostages mistakenly shot dead by israeli forces this week. in gaza, the continued conflict is pushing hospitals to breaking point. pictures like this rarely make it to israeli tv screens, but they're shaping opinion abroad as each day, the war leaves more of gaza's dead and injured buried under the rubble and israel under more pressure to find a way out. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. pope francis has also been speaking about the war in gaza. at his weekly blessing, the pontiff again suggested that israel was using "terrorism" tactics in gaza. he was referring to the reported killing by the israeli military of two christian women who were sheltering inside a church in gaza. the israeli army says it found no evidence to show the incident took place. the pope's statement was the second time in less than a month that he used the word "terrorism"

when discussing the events in gaza. translation: let us not - forget our brothers and sisters suffering from war in ukraine, palestine, israeland other conflict zones. may the approach of christmas strengthen our commitments to open paths of peace. i continue to receive from gaza very serious and painful news. unarmed civilians are being bombed and shot at, and this is even happening inside the holy family parish compound, where there are no terrorists, only family children and people with disabilities and nuns. a mother and her daughter were killed and others wounded by snipers as they went to the bathroom. the house of mother teresa's nuns was damaged, the generator hit. some say it's terrorism, its war. yes, its war, it's terrorism, that's why scriptures says that god stops war, breaks bows and breaks spears. let us pray to the lord for peace.

that is what the pope had to say. live now to ramallah where we can speak to canon richard sewell, dean of st george s college injerusalem. what more can you tell us about the fate of christians within the gaza strip? i fate of christians within the gaza stri - ? . fate of christians within the gaza stri? . . , ,, ., fate of christians within the gaza stri? . . , ,, strip? i am actually speaking to you from jerusalem. _ strip? i am actually speaking to you from jerusalem. i _ strip? i am actually speaking to you from jerusalem. i was _ strip? i am actually speaking to you from jerusalem. i was in _ strip? i am actually speaking to you from jerusalem. i was in ramallah i from jerusalem. i was in ramallah earlier on today and now back home injerusalem. i earlier on today and now back home in jerusalem-— earlier on today and now back home in jerusalem._ that - earlier on today and now back home in jerusalem._ that is i in jerusalem. i apologise. that is all ri . ht. in jerusalem. i apologise. that is all right- i _ in jerusalem. i apologise. that is all right. i have _ in jerusalem. i apologise. that is all right. i have no _ in jerusalem. i apologise. that is all right. i have no information i all right. i have no information about the attack on the christian community in the holy family church beyond what you have heard already. but we do know that christians there are incredibly vulnerable, they have been sheltering in the grounds of the roman catholic church since the beginning of the war. life has got increasingly difficult for them. lack of food and water and

electricity, desperately short, coming to the point of starvation, and the older ones are really struggling with thirst and now of course with the information about the attacks by a sniper and others in and around the grounds of the roman catholic church. it is just really, really worrying. it highlights the fact that israeli forces are not discriminating between those who are palestinian and those who are christian, their stated aim is to pursue hamas and if christians are in the way of that, then they also can end up being killed, can't they? it then they also can end up being killed, can't they?— then they also can end up being killed, can't they? it seems to be that wa . killed, can't they? it seems to be that way- right — killed, can't they? it seems to be that way. right from _ killed, can't they? it seems to be that way. right from the - killed, can't they? it seems to be that way. right from the very - that way. right from the very beginning this church complex has been a place for christians to shelter and the idea that there would be hamas terrorists in amongst thatis would be hamas terrorists in amongst that is inconceivable to me. and

certainly the pope is explaining it that way as well, and every other account we have got in terms of eyewitnesses, layla moran's family is there, and she has given very clear accounts from her family members who are there. and in the absence of independentjournalists absence of independent journalists who absence of independentjournalists who have no access to northern gaza this is all we have got to go on. the population within the region, the christian population, i read that it the christian population, i read thatitis the christian population, i read that it is diminishing. i5 the christian population, i read that it is diminishing.— the christian population, i read that it is diminishing. is that the case? very _ that it is diminishing. is that the case? very much _ that it is diminishing. is that the case? very much so. _ that it is diminishing. is that the case? very much so. over- that it is diminishing. is that the case? very much so. over the i that it is diminishing. is that the i case? very much so. over the last 20, 30, 40 case? very much so. over the last 20, 30, a0 years, the christians who would have been maybe 20% of the whole population of palestine and israel in the past now in gaza are probably about 1000 out of a population of over 2 million. it is

absolutely tiny. and so they are the historic remnant of the long, long established christian community. there have been christians in palestine and israel since the time of christ. there has never been a period where indigenous christians have not been there. i am a british priest serving here in the dioceses ofjerusalem but the vast majority ofjerusalem but the vast majority of our clergy and our people are all palestinians and they trace their heritage back to the very beginnings of the christian church here. so there are voices now asking for a ceasefire. we heard this from the uk and from france and germany and dissenting voices from a number of quarters. would you add your voice to what the pope has to say and those calling for a ceasefire? absolutely i would. there is a humanitarian disaster taking place

in the full view of the media and the knowledge of the world. babies, women, children and men are dying in vast numbers and there is worse potentially still to come without a ceasefire, and thatjust cannot be justified. once the ceasefire is established, whenever that might be, as soon as possible, then there is the incredibly challenging work of working out what the future will look like, how to rebuild gaza and how to begin to look at the new reality, whatever it is on the ground, but was people are being killed and are dying from a variety of courses then none of that can take place. of courses then none of that can take place-—

take place. and it is intolerable. thank you _ take place. and it is intolerable. thank you very _ take place. and it is intolerable. thank you very much _ take place. and it is intolerable. thank you very much indeed - take place. and it is intolerable. thank you very much indeed for| thank you very much indeed for joining us from jerusalem and highlighting the plight of the christian palestinians. thank you forjoining us. here in the uk, after years of denials, the former conservative peer baroness mone has admitted that she stands to benefit from tens of millions of pounds of profit made from personal protective equipment, that was sold to the government during the coronavirus pandemic by the company that was led by her husband, doug barrowman. she says she did help broker the deal, but claims she was made a scapegoat for the government's failings. our political correspondent laura kuenssberg has more. questions about the pandemic, profit and politics have followed baroness mone and her husband to southern europe. for years, they denied links to a firm that received £200 million in taxpayers' money for desperately needed masks and gowns. only now the truth —

that she does stand to gain. if one day, if, god forbid, my husband passes away before me, then i am a beneficiary as well as his children and my children. so, yes, of course. my family will benefit in due course. our family will benefit. that's what you do when you're in the privileged position of making money. a successful businesswoman and member of the lords, she didn't tell parliament she was helping broker a ppe contract. she now admits she didn't tell the truth when her links to the deal first emerged. you both denied it — why? we were simply listening to our advisers. hindsight�*s a wonderful thing. i wasn't trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. and i regret and i'm sorry for not saying straight out, "yes, i am involved". my family have gone through hell with the media over my career

and i didn't want another big hoo—ha in the press and my family to be involved in it. i don't honestly see there's a case to answer. i can't see what we've done wrong. doug and the consortium have simply delivered a contract — a delivery contract of goods. but after everything, you can't see what you've done wrong when you've admitted today that you lied to the press? that's not a crime. essentially, you lied to the public. laura, saying to the press that i'm not involved to protect my family, can ijust make this clear? it's not a crime. the company's being taken to court by the department of health. the pairare under criminal investigation. but the government wouldn't comment on the couple who only now want to have their say. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. our political correspondent damian grammaticas has more on the reaction from the government.

so the government has been speaking today on the record, but not addressing directly this case. the deputy prime minister oliver dowden was on the laura kuenssberg programme today. he didn't want to go into this case, he said, because of the ongoing proceedings relating to it and i remind you they are a criminal investigation by the national crime agency looking at conspiracy to defraud and bribery, and separately a civil claim from the department of health which is seeking to recoup £122 million because it is alleging breach of contract and unjust enrichment. baroness mone and her husband deny they have ever done anything wrong. what the government has been saying today, the deputy prime minister mr oliver dowden, he said generally, broadly in the pandemic, with the handing out of contracts there was no cronyism, no favouritism, he said, and he said now the government

was where it should be trying to recoup the money. there were no favours or special treatment, everyone had ultimately the same tests applied to them. and indeed if it is the case where allegations of fraud and misconduct have occurred there is either the civil or criminal, which you can see going on in respect of the interview that you have just broadcast. in addition to that we set up the public sector fraud authority which already in its first year has recovered double its initial target. the labour party says there was shocking incompetence and recklessness from the government in the way it behaved in the pandemic, it claims, in the way it handed out contracts through the vip fast lane. this was the labour shadow health secretary, wes streeting. the fact is that people ripped our country off and we have to get our money back and also send a signal to people in the future that you don't get away with this. i'm sure we will come on to talk about this in the context of the nhs, but it also applies

to the broader public services. money is tight in this country, the public finances are a disaster thanks to this government. and this evening the labour party have written directly to the government. they are asking for an urgent statement in the house of commons before mps go away for their christmas break because they say there are now questions that need to be answered about michelle mone, about her contacts with government ministers, her contacts with civil servants, and labour is taking a step back. they say were they to win the next election they would create the post of a covid corruption commissioner to try to claw back money where they could from the contracts that were given out. british teenager alex batty, who was found in france after being missing for six years, has returned to the uk. a french couple who owned a farmhouse where he stayed on and off over the last two years have spoken about his time there. they say he did odd jobs

for them in return forfood and accommodation, and was part of their family. alex vanished with his mother and grandfather while they were on holiday in spain when he was 11. his mother was not his legal guardian and police are yet to decide whether there will be a criminal investigation. alex was found on wednesday by a motorist, who spotted him on a road in the foothills of the french pyrenees. now it's time for a look at today's sport. we start with an entertaining day in the english premier league where arsenal have returned to the top of the table after a convincing 2—0 win over brighton. they opened the scoring in the second half with a gabrieljesus header. kai havertz then got their second — that's his fourth goal in seven games. the win ensures arsenal bounce back from last weekend's loss to aston villa. brighton slip a place to ninth. an incredible performance. i think it was a joy to watch and the way we

did against this very good team, all credit because we generated so much. even at half—time the scoreline didn't reflect that, but we were really patient and kept going. at anfield, bitter rivals liverpool and manchester united played out a goalless draw. in a cagey game, liverpool were unable to make the most of their chances against a stubborn united defence. the visitors went down to ten men in injury time when diogo dalot was sent off. liverpool drop to second in the league, a point behind arsenal and afterwards, jurgen klopp criticised his players lack of ruthlessness. the main thing i don't like is the result, we should have won this game but we didn't. we can create more finishes against manchester united, but if we have that number, a few should be on target and we had

enough to score. i think they were massive chances, but should have been more. elsewhere, aston villa came back to beat brentford 2—1 in a fiery encounter, which saw each side reduced to ten men. west ham bounced back to win 3—0 at home to wolves. an update to bring you on the luton town captain tom lockyer now. the defender collapsed in their game at bournemouth on saturday, suffering a cardiac arrest. the club confirmed he was responsive when taken off the field. the club released a statement on social media, saying that he �*remains in hospital�* and that they �*understand that supporters are concerned for him and that there is widespread media interest in his condition.�* they added that lockyer is still undergoing tests and scans, and is awaiting the results before the next steps for his recovery are determined. in italy, third placed ac milan beat monza 3—0 in the early game in serie a. fiorentina won 1—0 against verona.

and it finished 2—2 between udinese and sassuolo. bologna are up to fourth after their 2—nil victory over roma. lazio are in action against inter milan. it�*s 0—0 after half an hour played there. nathan lyon has become just the 8th bowler to take 500 test wickets, with the spinner helping australia to a huge win over pakistan in the opening test in perth. lyon took two on the final day as pakistan were bowled out forjust 89, giving australia a 360 run victory. the tourists haven�*t won a test in the country since 1995. next up is the boxing day test in melbourne. meanwhile, india cruised to an eight—wicket win over south africa in the first one dayer injohannesburg. arshdeep singh took five wickets to restrict south africa to 116 all out — their lowest odi total at home. shreyas iyer and sai sudharsan both

made fifties as india eased home inside 17 overs. the second of three odis takes place in qu—berga on tuesday. south africa�*s louis 0osthuizen has taken a second win in a week with a two—shot victory at the mauritius open. a final round, three under par 69, was enough to see off the challenge of englishman laurie canter. it follows 0osthuizen�*s win at the alfred dunhill championship last monday. and that�*s all the sport for now. now back to to our top story, israel�*s bombardment of gaza. the committee to protectjournalists says at least 6a journalists and media workers, mostly palestinians, have been killed since the 7th of october. some estimates say that number is much higher. our reporter yasmin khatun dewan has more from the newsroom. an ever—growing list of names behind me,

an unprecedented number ofjournalists have been killed in the israel—gaza war. the committee to protectjournalists says it has led to the deadliest month forjournalists since the cpj began gathering data in 1992. journalists are civilians and they need to be protected. civilians need to be protected. and this is not happening in any sense in this conflict. so what we are seeing is one of the most dangerous conflicts forjournalists we�*ve ever documented, withjournalists bearing the brunt of these attacks, most of them palestinian journalists who are the only source we have, the only witness we have on the ground to bear witness to what�*s happening. this is a camera operatorfor the

news aljazeera. these emotional scenes behind me here are from his funeral. the network said he was killed by an israeli drone strike while he and his colleagues were reporting at a school youth for shelter in khan yunis in gaza, adding that paramedics were prevented from reaching abu zaka, who bled to death after being wounded by the strike. on the israel—lebanon border a reuters investigation found that their journalist, issam abdullah, was killed by israeli tank shells that wounded six others. rights groups say israel should be investigated for possible war crimes over his death. the idf has said it takes all operationally feasible measures to protect both civilians and journalists and has never and will never deliberately target journalists beyond the at least 6a journalists killed. 13journalists have been reported injured, threejournalists reported missing, 19journalists reported arrested with multiple assaults,

threats, cyber attacks, censorship and the killing of family members. the committee to protectjournalists have called the situation untenable, saying the toll of such attacks on journalists has not been fully grasped by world leaders in a war which is proving to be one of the most dangerous forjournalists in recent times. polls have closed in serbia�*s snap parliamentary elections which are seen as a test of president aleksandar vucic and his progressive party which have been in power since 2012. he says he expects a landslide victory even though they are up against a largely—united opposition of fifteen parties, which formed a coalition after protests over two mass shootings earlier this year. the turnout looks set to be around 60%, which is similar to last year�*s elections. chileans are also voting for the second time in just over a year on whether to adopt a new constitution.

efforts to reform the current document which dates back to the pinochet dicatorship began four years ago after large, sometimes violent, protests against social inequality. an initial draft written by a left—wing dominated assembly was rejected as too radical in a referendum last year. the new text has been overseen by chile�*s right—wing opposition. the uk could soon have its first operating space port after a site on the shetland islands was granted a license by the civil aviation authority. the spaceport on unst, the uk�*s most northerly inhabited island, is the first vertical launch site in western europe to be given the go ahead. saxavord�*s operators say several rockets from around the world are being prepared to blast off from the site from next year. stay with us here on bbc news.

it has been cloudy, windy and mild this weekend, some sunshine spotted in south—east england. in scotland are very wet weekend with rain, sinking southwards this afternoon to dumfries and galloway and northern ireland and into north—west england as we head into this week. that mild air is streaming in on a brisk south—westerly wind. windy conditions in north—east england, in south—east scotland and the sea coasts. the rain will sink southwards as we head through this evening and overnight. it will be much drierfor scotland and clear spells in the north. here it will feel colder. rain tomorrow morning in the hills in wales. 0n rain tomorrow morning in the hills in wales. on monday it turns a bit

colder and some of our temperatures are in double figures. as we start off monday morning, still weather fronts in the south across parts of wales and stretching across the midlands into east anglia. a bit of rain for the south—west of england. a dry start to the day in scotland, but there will be another weather front reaching the north—west by the end of the afternoon. sunshine in northern ireland and eastern scotland and it is milder. this is tuesday. in the west there will be rain pushing eastward, so a very 5°99y rain pushing eastward, so a very soggy start to the day. we start to draw in more of a north—westerly wind in scotland, so here they could be wintry showers, especially is in the south and east. in northern england sunshine, but further south that rain will clear as we head through the afternoon. the air is still mild in the south and east, but it turns colder further north.

plenty of added wind chill around as well. on wednesday that colder moves further eastwards and we get mild conditions from the west. if anything falls out of the sky on wednesday it should fall as rain. this is the outlook as we head through the week and approach the christmas period. watch out for colder weather as we head towards christmas day.

this is bbc news. the headlines. hungry palestinians loot aid trucks entering gaza through the rafah crossing, as israel opens another crossing for aid. israel�*s prime minister dismisses the latest calls for a "sustainable ceasefire" in gaza — insisting they will "fight to the end" to eliminate hamas. former conservative peer baroness mone admits she stands to benefit from £60 million of profit from personal protective equipment sold to the government during the pandemic. voting wraps up in serbia�*s snap elections, called after two mass shootings shook the ruling party�*s hold on power. and a site in the shetland islands becomes the uk�*s first spaceport for vertical rocket launches. it has been given approval to begin launches in 202a from the small island of unst.